Combined envelope and letter sheet



March 21, 1944.

COMBINED ENVELOPE AND LETTER SHEET Filed Aug. 21, 1941 B; H. M KlNh lEY 2,344,891

Patented Mar. 21, 1944 COMBINED ENVELOPE AND LETTER SHEET Bernell Hampson McKinney, Lindfield, near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Application August 21, 1941, Serial No. 407,805 In Australia August 23, 1940 1 Claim. (Cl. 2299-2.1)

This invention has been devised to provide a combined envelope and letter sheet constituting a message and/or a mailing instrument which will avoid waste inasmuch as one section of the sheet is utilised to secure the instrument in proper form for mailing or other despatch. By this invention the cost of manufacture of envelopes is entirely eliminated and at least half of the material used for the manufacture of envelopes is saved and the combined envelope and letter sheet when folded and sealed may be readily slit open by finger or usual letter opener without causing damage to the letter sheet itself or contents enclosed.

The invention is especially adaptable for cheap postage rate matters such as circulars, printed or commercial papers and the like; the inner surfaces not being closed against inspection during mail transmit may be easily examined in accordance with postal requirements concerning such matter without breaking any seal or cutting or tearing any adhering or other surfaces and the method of securing the missive is such that the contents will not become loose and the likelihood of other postal articles being entrapped in the combined envelope and letter sheet of this invention while in the mail (as is possible with open postal packets particularly envelopes mailed with tuck-in flaps as at present commonly prepared) is minimised to a very considerable de gree.

The invention is also adaptable for private or personal letter class mail matter which may be manufactured as loose sheets or as writing pads and it is also adaptable to such articles as greeting cards, invitation cards and the like thereby eliminating the manufacture by manual or machine methods of the special envelopes usually required for such articles. Other paper enclosures folded with the combined envelope and letter sheet of this invention will not become dislodged in the course of ordinary mail transit.

The envelope and letter sheet is made from a rectangular sheet of paper having a panel prodecting therefrom which panel constitutes one wall of the envelope. The adjoining part of the letter sheet when the sheet is folded to the same size as the panel constitutes the other wall of the envelope and the end edge of the panel has an adhesive thereon to enable it to bind the letter sheet as a mailing instrument when the latter is folded. A sheet of paper which is double the desired area of the combined envelope and letter sheet may be so cut as to make two such articles without any wastage whatsoever. A line of perforations is made between the panel and the sheet to facilitate severing the panel from the sheet.

The invention will be described in further detail with reference to the annexed drawin wherein Fig. 1 depicts a flat sheet and envelope panel; Fig. 2 shows the sheet of Fig. 1 folded in envelope form; Fig. 3 shows a means for sealing the folded inner face of the sheet against inspection which is useful for privacy of contents; Fig. 4 shows the sheet of Fig. 3 partly folded in envelope form and sealed against inspection; Fig. 5 shows one method of making a writing pad.

A rectangular sheet of paper of such size that when folded longitudinally on the line I and then folded transversely on the lines 8 and 9 will make a packet of convenient mailing dimensions, has a section cut from one corner indicated by the references Ill-4|. The panel or section A forms a wall of the envelope; this section is perforated along the line 9 for easy severance from the remainder of the sheet and is gummed along the edge l2. The back of the adjacent panel or section B of the sheet forms the other wall of the envelope and also on face B illustrated forms part of the correspondence or notice space while panels or sections C, D and E complete the correspondence or notice space and either or both faces of these sections C, D and E may be used for such purposes. Either of the sections A or B may constitute the front of the envelope and take the address and/or postage stamp as illustrated the section A is prepared for this purpose. It will be seen that two combined envelope and letter sheets prepared as stated above can be cut from one blank without any wastage whatsoever.

As illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 the envelope and letter sheet is adapted for private or letter class mail matter by applying the gummed flap F to the back of section E as shown at Y (under section A when folded) and to the back of section B as shown at X in dotted outline. The flap thus applied seals the sections B, C, D and E.

Envelopes and letter sheet prepared as aforesaid may be formed into pads and as such they may be first folded as indicated in Fig. 5 or the sheets constituting the pad may be bound together along any of the edges l4, I5 or iii and each section A folded onto its sheet to make a compact package.

Additional sheets of paper may be folded with and within the letter sheet folds; preferably such additional sheets are of the same size as the combined areas of sections B, C, D and E. An

A stationery unit combining a message sheet and envelope, said message sheet being rectangu-' lar in form and adapted for folding through its longitudinal and transverse center lines respectively, with its opposite longitudinal marginal edges flush with each other and with its transwith the marginal edges of said panels in flush relation to each other, said envelope comprising an integral extension of said sheet of equal dimensions and the same contour as each of said panels, said envelope extension being integrally connected to one of the outermost of said panels along a folding line coextensive therewith forming one common marginal edge of said envelope extension and said outermost panel, said outermost panel forming with said extension the complete envelope for enclosing the remainder of verse marginal edges flush with each other to facilitate said folding and to effect reduction of the sheet into four superposed panels of equal areas and corresponding rectangular contours said panels therebetween, said last mentioned folding line defining the top edge of the envelope, a strip of latent adhesive for securing the opposite free edge of said envelope extension to a component panel of said message sheet when folded, said unit being perforated along said last mentioned folding line to facilitate opening the sealed envelope.

BERNELL HAIVIPSON MCKINNEY. 

